TEXAS FACES REAL PROBLEMS. DON’T EXPECT THE LEGE TO SOLVE THEM.
Publisher Michael Wagner
Editor in Chief Sanford Nowlin
General Manager Chelsea Bourque
Editorial
Digital Content Editor Stephanie Koithan
Contributing Arts Editor Bryan Rindfuss
Staff Writer Michael Karlis
Contributors Abe Asher, Bill Baird, Ron Bechtol, Danny Cervantes, Macks Cook, Amber Esparza, Brianna Espinoza, Dalia Gulca, Anjali Gupta, Colin Houston, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Kevin Sanchez, M. Solis, Caroline Wolff, Dean Zach
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Certification:
in this issue
12
Show Session
07
News The Opener News in Brief
Culture or clutter?
City Council mulls pilot program to add digital ad displays downtown and in other areas
Bad Takes
The White House’s attacks on the Post Office are a disservice to its workers and to all Americans
Sense of Urgency
LGBTQIA+ advocates make record turnout to lobby Texas lawmakers amid increasingly hostile environment
Texas Republican lawmakers take aim at sex toy sales
16 Calendar
Our picks of things to do
21 Arts Garden Party
Weirdly Familiar
Shannon and the Clams taking its ‘LSD prom’ to San Antonio’s Paper Tiger
Life Is Strange
A diverse trio of women artists finds common ground at Artpace San Antonio
Ready for Readers
Newly opened San Antone Books banking on a novel approach
27 Screens
Free as a Bird
Steve Coogan finds enlightenment with penguin as co-star in The Penguin Lessons
29 Food Cooking Up Conversation
Mare E Monte owner Prince Blakaj escaped wartorn Kosovo to pursue American dream
Bake It Til You Make It
Giant cookies are the rage. We tried chains such as Crumbl and local bakeries to see if bigger is really better
San Antonio cosmic cowboy Garrett T. Capps drops album he calls his ‘most personal and honest’
Critics’ Picks
On the Cover: The current Texas legislative session features less bickering by state GOP leaders, but don’t expect them to solve real problems. Cover design: David Loyola.
Michael Karlis
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That Rocks/That Sucks
HThe San Antonio area will be hit harder than any other U.S. metro by the looming trade war with Canada, a new study conducted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce found. Despite the Alamo City’s proximity and myriad connections to Mexico, nearly half the region’s exports go north to Canada, according to researchers. Those exports accounted for some $6 billion in 2023 or 3.4% of the region’s total GDP.
A trio of San Antonio muralists are teaming up to create a Mount Rushmore of murals honoring Spurs greats, past and present. The murals, which are being painted on the side of Amols’ Party and Fiesta Store north of downtown, include homages to sidelined head coach Gregg Popovich and star Victor Wembanyama. The Wemby mural features a flying Lego Millennium Falcon, the first purchase the Frenchman made after signing with the team.
Republican lawmakers filed two separate bills in the Texas Legislature targeting the sale of sex toys. Senate Bill 3003 would require online retailers to use an age-verification process to ensure customers are at least 18 years old, while HB 1549 would prohibit retailers from selling “obscene devices” if they’re not “sexually oriented” businesses — a prohibition that would stop drugstores from selling sexual health devices.
A South San Antonio memorial dedicated to the 53 migrants who died in the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history was quickly restored after it was damaged by vandals two weekends ago. The memorial, which consists of crosses representing each person who died, is situated at the site where authorities in November 2022 discovered an abandoned tractor-trailer with migrants trapped inside. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said he plans to charge whoever vandalized the memorial with a hate crime. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“[Queer
people are] usually the first target, and although these bills may be targeting us, the unintended consequences of those bills impact other communities just as much as they impact us.”
Hurling insults like a middle school bully with Texas Congressman Troy Nehls
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
GOP Congressman Troy Nehls was so incensed that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke would hold a town hall in his southwest-of-Houston district last Friday that he posted a two-minute video meltdown accusing the pair of being “radical left lunatics.”
“Tim Walz, you are a loser,” Nehls, R-Richmond, taunted in the clip. “The American people rejected you and Kamala in November. Give it up.” He then turned his attention to O’Rourke. “You’re not only a loser, you’re a three-time loser.”
Close your eyes, zero in on Nehls’ reedy, sneering tone and it’s easy to envision a snotnosed middle school bully delivering the same screed just before trying to shake loose lunch money from a couple of the nerdy kids. Walz touched down in Nehls’ district last week because he’s been staging town halls around the country to hear from voters frustrated with the Trump administration’s demolition of democratic norms — and Republican lawmakers’ apparent eagerness to let the 78-year-old man baby wipe his feet on the Constitution.
Walz’s tour also comes after National Republican Congressional Committee honcho Richard Hudson advised GOP lawmakers not to hold in-person town halls because voters have been more than willing to show up and call them on their bullshit.
“If your Republican representative won’t meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will,” Walz said in
A U.S. District Court judge last week ruled that housing incarcerated individuals in extreme heat is “plainly unconstitutional,” a ruling that could have major implications in Texas where roughly 85,000 people are held in un-air-conditioned prisons. Nevertheless, Judge Robert Pittman declined to order the Texas Department of Justice to install temporary or permanent air conditioning, meaning the lawsuit over the lack of air conditioning in Texas lockups is likely headed toward a trial.
Bexar County commissioners unanimously approved a nonbinding agreement with Spurs Sports and Entertainment and the city of San Antonio last week to ensure that county property taxpayers won’t be on the hook for funding
a social media post spelling out his strategy. Meanwhile, Nehls — a die-hard Trump sycophant who once told other House members the Great Orange Leader is “right all the time” has been AWOL when it comes to public meetings since Trump was reelected.
In his video, the congressman defended his record of interacting with voters, saying he meets regularly with local chambers of commerce and sends out a weekly newsletter to 35,000 subscribers. Worthy of note: his congressional district boasts a population of 808,000 people.
Here’s a hot take for assclown Nehls: If you don’t like Democrats talking to your constituents, try unburying your face from between Trump’s flabby ass cheeks and doing your fucking job. — Sanford Nowlin
a new arena for the NBA team. The county could instead contribute up to $449 million of revenue from its hotel occupancy tax to help foot the bill for the proposed $1.5 billion sports facility.
Facing intense backlash, State Rep. Pat Curry has withdrawn a bill to disband the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department . Filed in midMarch, the bill would have divided up the department’s functions between the General Land Office, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Safety Curry acknowledged in a statement that his proposal may have “ruffled some feathers,” but argued it was necessary to get the department’s attention after discussions over the regulation of deer breeders failed. — Abe Asher
Shutterstock / Philip Yabut
Culture or clutter?
City
Council mulls pilot program to add digital ad displays downtown and in other areas
BY
EDMOND ORTIZ
San Antonio officials are weighing a pilot program that would allow the city and property owners to share revenue from digital media signs displayed in specially designated parts of town.
But the proposal faces opposition from some city leaders and community organizations, who worry large the illuminated ad displays will ruin the aesthetics of downtown and add unwanted visual clutter in other neighborhoods.
City Council’s Planning and Community Development Committee met Friday, March 21, to discuss the proposal, which would create urban entertainment districts where digital advertising screens or displays can be installed on approved buildings.
In the end, the committee voted 3-0 to forward the recommendation to create the pilot program, which the full council is slated to debate in April for final action.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo, who raised concerns that the proposal would be unpopular with residents, abstained from voting.
During the meeting, San Antonio Development Services Director Amin Tohmaz said each digital screen would cover no more than 25% of a building facade. The city would get 20% of revenue for each display.
Each digital screen would show rotating ad content and official city messages. Each also would be accompanied by a stationary display created by a local artist.
Aside from advertising revenue, the city would benefit from the program and brightening spaces in certain high-traffic areas, Tohmaz told members of the Planning Committee.
City staff is considering carving out four urban entertainment districts in and around downtown, and others in Southtown, at the Pearl, the University of
Texas at San Antonio, Toyota Field, Port San Antonio and Brooks City Base.
Downtown’s digital signs wouldn’t be visible from the River Walk, Tohmaz said, nor could they be placed on historic structures.
The origins of the proposal date back to 2022 when San Antonio-based advertising business Outfront Media and the organization Urban Activation Institute (UAI) approached the city with a proposal to install digital displays in art and entertainment districts.
UAI helped to launch urban entertainment districts in Denver and Atlanta.
Some committee members expressed support for the overall concept, although they acknowledged wariness many residents have about digital billboards.
“I hope it adds a safety factor in lighting up some areas that are dark, and it adds way-finding,” said Councilman John Courage, a mayoral candidate. “It’s one thing to visit a kiosk, but it’s something else to see something shown on a hotel.”
But Councilwoman Teri Castillo criticized city staff for recommending adoption of the program, pointing out that a majority of residents who answered a city-led survey oppose adding
more digital ad displays.
According to Tohmaz, 75% of 544 respondents said “no” to a question about permitting large digital media displays citywide. When respondents are broken down by council districts, 31% of residents in District 1 said they support digital media displays, but more than 90% of residents in every other district opposed them.
“Oftentimes, a [city staff] recommendation does reflect what the general public is requesting,” Castillo said.
Some attendees of the committee meeting, including six members of the Conservation Society of San Antonio, spoke in opposition of the proposal.
CSSA President Lewis Vetter said his organization has legal, environmental and economic concerns about the creation of urban entertainment districts. He said the measure would flout the city’s sign code, which would therefore need to be amended.
“The sign ordinance required advertising companies to remove four billboards for every new digital billboard, thus improving the overall urban environment. This reverses that, increasing signage,” Vetter said.
Vetter added permitting more digital signs makes the city look ugly, and that the Denver and Atlanta urban entertainment districts have not proven financially successful.
Still, other committee members and speakers at the meeting said they see an upside to the proposal.
Trish Deberry, CEO of Centro San Antonio, a coalition promoting downtown growth, backed the proposal. She said adopting the proposal as a pilot program gives the city a chance to see how it performs.
Digital signs could be added in a way that don’t stain the appearance of downtown, she added.
“I think there can be a mix between art and a respect of our history and culture,” Deberry said.
Council member Phyllis Viagran said she wants to ensure that ad revenues the city collects are allocated to the Arts and Culture Department, which has been working with Development Services to formulate the proposal.
“I want us to have a process by which artists see some of that money,” she added.
Shutterstock / Robi Jaffrey
SHAKIRA JUN. 13
NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACTION ON APPLICATION FOR CONVERSION OF BASE IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER TO UNRESTRICTED IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER
The General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority (“EAA”) proposes to grant applications to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules. A copy of the applications, the technical summaries, the General Manager’s proposed actions, and the proposed amended regular permits are available for public inspection at the EAA’s offices at 900 E. Quincy Street, San Antonio, Texas Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Electronic copies may also be obtained by request to Jennifer Wong-Esparza at jesparza@edwardsaquifer.org or (210) 222-2204.
The General Manager proposes to approve the following applications to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules:
Town East Crossing, LLC. – Filed application on February 27, 2025. The application seeks to convert 7.837 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).
Security State Bank – Filed application on February 27, 2025. The application seeks to convert 2.563 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).
SA Rocking in the Free World, L.P. – Filed application on January 16, 2025. The application seeks to convert 35.026 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).
The applicants or any other Edwards Aquifer permit holder may file a written request for a contested case hearing on the proposed action with the EAA by no later than May 5, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. in accordance with § 707.603 of the EAA’s Rules. The EAA’s Board of Directors will consider approval of the applications and issuance of the proposed amended regular permits within 60 days of publication of this notice unless a request for contested case hearing is timely filed. If no timely requests for contested case hearing are filed, the applications will be presented to the EAA’s Board on the date of the hearing for final action.
This notice is issued pursuant to § 707.525 of the EAA’s Rules.
ISSUED THIS 2nd DAY OF APRIL, 2025
BAD TAKES
The White House’s attacks on the Postal Service are a disservice to its workers and to all Americans
BY KEVIN SANCHEZ
Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.
When Republicans aim to destroy a public service, their first step is to make it operate poorly.
The next intended target for that treatment by “efficiency experts” Donald Trump and Elon Musk could well be the U.S. Postal Service, an institution older than the United States itself. And the fate of more than 600,000 postal workers hangs in the balance.
Sensing the looming sabotage-then-privatize strategy, USPS employees and their allies attended hundreds of rallies across the country last month, including two in San Antonio — on March 20 organized by the American Postal Workers Union and another on March 23 by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Outgoing Mayor Ron Nirenberg attended the latter.
“Honored to stand with the brothers and sisters of the NALC Branch 421 to say ‘hell no’ to dismantling the post office!” the mayor said on Instagram and Facebook.
Follow the hashtag #FightLikeHell for further information on upcoming calls to action.
“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,” Trump opined back in February. “It’s been a tremendous loser for this country.”
Trump’s claim came despite the USPS booking a $144 million profit last quarter and its history of delivering more than 300 million pieces of mail daily. It’s a linchpin of boringly reliable American greatness. Yet, both he and Musk have
repeatedly proposed a Commerce Department takeover of the independent agency and even outright privatization, despite the Constitution explicitly enshrining the authority to establish post offices to Congress.
Fifty-five years ago, the Postal Service won its independence after the largest walkout of federal employees in our nation’s history, dubbed the Great Postal Strike.
The strike came after Washington lawmakers generously proposed a 41% pay raise for themselves while the salaries of letter-carriers — many on food assistance — failed to keep up with the inflation rate.
Not surprisingly, 200,000 postal workers went wildcat and refused to sort or deliver the mail without wages and benefits commensurate with their demanding jobs. That slowed the economy to a crawl but quickly resulted in the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which not only achieved an 8% wage increase, but helped modernize the industry.
Where 25% of the USPS’s budget once came from taxpayer subsidies, operating free of a profit motive, it’s since settled into the mixed blessing of becoming a self-sustaining enterprise.
Still, David Williams, former vice chair of the USPS Board of Governors, testified before the Senate in 2019 that the post office’s obligation to provide universal service sets it apart from for-profit services.
“The role of public infrastructure is not to maximize profit, but to maximize value to our American supply chains and
to citizens, especially those in rural and under-served urban areas,” Williams explained. While private corporations such as Amazon and FedEx can blithely “weed out unprofitable customers, we deliver to each American doorway.”
That commitment helps explains why, a Pew survey from last summer found 72% of U.S. adults hold a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, including 68% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. That popularity is second only to the National Park Service and a hair above NASA.
Given what’s at stake, Donald Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, sat down last week with an independent senator from rural Vermont named Bernie Sanders to warn about the potential damage.
If the Postal Service is privatized, Maston predicted, we should expect “expensive, faceless contractors with surcharges that aren’t even going to go everywhere that rural carriers go. That universal service obligation that we have, that’s in the Constitution, that is what rural carriers do for America. They are the last mile of delivery in many cases. And that would likely go away or be priced beyond what people could afford, then they’re going to be forced to go without medicine, to drive back and forth to towns ... . So, it would be extremely harmful to rural America, and it would be harmful to all of America.”
Further, GOP leaders’ doom-andgloom claims that the USPS hemorrhag-
ing red ink are a complete falsehood, Maston added.
“The postal service for the most part has been self-funded for decades,” he said. “Rural carriers are hard-working men and women, oftentimes delivering mail out of their own vehicles, through snow and rain and sleet — all the things the motto says. But this work is hard, it’s blue-collar work, it’s not glamorous, and these men and women are out there busting their tails every day, and they’re not getting the appreciation they should. They’re just being treated as numbers. And the customers that they serve, the communities they serve, are being treated like they don’t matter.”
Sadly, though, we shouldn’t be surprised hard-working men and women are in the crosshairs. As “Give ‘Em Hell” Harry Truman liked to say, GOP actually stands for “Gluttons of Privilege.”
After all, which do most people trust more: the Postal Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and public libraries or Equifax, British Petroleum, Monsanto and the airlines?
Far from deconstructing or abandoning post offices, we could expand them to include banking services, as is common throughout Europe. Why would someone go to a predatory lender if they had access to credit via the Sonic Eagle? And why place risky bets on cryptocurrencies and NFTs when you could be collecting beautiful stamps instead?
Shit Show Session
Texas faces real problems. Don’t expect the Lege to solve them
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
For the first time in at least 15 years, both houses of the Texas Legislature appear fully unified with Gov. Greg Abbott’s conservative agenda.
After a string of Texas House speakers — starting with San Antonio’s Joe Straus — who saw themselves as moderating forces, Texas Rep. Dustin Burrows, the GOP lawmaker now in that role, appears to be on the same page as fellow Republicans Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Despite early Republican infighting over Burrows’ selection as speaker, the trio appear to be firmer footing than last session, when then-Speaker Dade Phelan openly traded jabs on social media with Patrick, who presides over the Senate.
While that’s good news for those eager to see the Lone Star State continue its
rightward lurch, it doesn’t bode well for the Legislature tackling some of the state’s most pressing problems.
The new unity could be put to use expanding health care access, giving the state a much-need increase in public school funding or shoring up vital public services decimated by Trump administration cuts.
Instead, political observers said it will likely ensure that conservative priorities such as school vouchers, a ban on THC-containing hemp products and new voting restrictions are prioritized during the session.
“I think what you see this session is that Abbott, Patrick and [Attorney General Ken] Paxton have cleared the field,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “Republican leadership in both houses is moving forward in much closer step with
the governor’s agenda.”
Vouchers above all
The overwhelming priority for Abbott this session — and one both Burrows and Patrick appear united in delivering on — is school vouchers. Last session, rural Republicans joined with Democrats in the Texas House to derail the governor’s plans to use tax dollars to pay for kids’ private-school educations.
While Abbott insisted his plan would bring “school choice” to parents statewide, opponents argued it would decimate already underfunded public campuses, especially in small towns.
Since that defeat, Abbott has spent nearly $9 million to fund primary challenges that ousted more than half the Republican legislators who opposed vouchers during the 2023 session, according to nonpartisan money-in-politics watchdog Open Secrets.
With that opposition kicked to the curb, both Abbott and Burrows have signaled that vouchers will pass the House this session. The biggest obstacle is likely to be whether the finally approved bill
looks like the one Burrows championed in the House or a similar proposal passed by the Senate.
In recent comments, Abbott has pledged to make sure the state’s public schools are fully funded, including pay raises for teachers. He drew the line on new funding last session as punishment for vouchers dying in the House.
However, political experts said they don’t expect any funding increase for Texas schools to be substantial. What’s more, critics charge, it’s unlikely to make up for the longer-term funding loss that will result from vouchers.
“It’s absolute nonsense,” community organizer and 2024 Democratic candidate for the Texas House Kristian Carranza said of Abbott’s pledge to flow more cash into public education. “If you are taking a child out of public schools, you are taking away that funding and putting it directly into private schools. To try to spin that any other way is dishonest.”
Clarifying the abortion ban
On the Senate side, Patrick — a staunch abortion opponent — has signaled that
Michael Karlis
he wants to clarify the state’s abortion ban, making it more understandable when a doctor can intervene to save a pregnant patient’s life.
The only exception the law currently provides is to allow abortions to save the life of a pregnant patient. Doctors argue the existing legislation’s vague language and draconian penalties make it unclear when they can intervene without facing prison time. They say they continue to operate in a terrifying gray area despite lawsuits and court rulings seeking to clarify the matter.
At least three women have died since Texas adopted its ban, and a recent survey by consultancy Manatt Health found that 76% of Texas OB-GYNs believe they can’t practice medicine according to best practices under the ban.
“You worry, where is that threshold? Where is it?” Austin OB-GYNs Dr. Leah Tatum told the Current. “Where am I in a situation where everybody in the room considers it reasonable for me to offer [abortion] care under the current law? … . Luckily, it has not come up that often, that you’re in that situation, but we all worry about being put in that place.”
Even so, it remains to be seen just how much clarity Republican lawmakers actually want to bring to the bill. Many women’s health advocates argue the original legislation employed deliberately vague language with the intent of frightening providers away from offering abortions. Some worry any modifications
would simply be a public relations stunt.
Targeting THC
Patrick, a longtime roadblock for cannabis reform in the Texas Lege, has also thrown his support behind a bill to ban the sale and possession of all consumable hemp products carrying THC, the compound in weed that gets people high.
The proposal faces an uncertain future in the House, and Abbott hasn’t publicly opined on it. Even so, political watchers warn that it could actually reach the governor’s desk in the newly unified Lege.
Advocates argue the move would kill off a growing $267 million business while doing nothing to expand the effectiveness of Texas’ medical marijuana program, considered one of the most restrictive in the nation.
“Prohibition is a failed concept. How do you solve anything by banning it?”
Cynthia Cabrera, co-founder of the Texas Hemp Business Council told the Current.
“If you want to expand a marijuana program, that’s great, but not at the expense of 50,000 jobs and six years worth of labor and work on the small business side.”
Voter restrictions and anti-LGBTQIA+ bills
Once again, Texas Republicans in both houses are using spurious claims
Although most of those proposals are expected to fizzle out, Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas, recently told the Current they represent a slippery slope.
“Some of the [bills] getting the most attention right now are probably the ones that are less likely to go anywhere because they’re so extreme,” Pritchett said. “But there are bills that will have a direct impact on people’s lives.”
Water and deep cuts
While this session’s unified front is likely to deepen the state’s red hue, Jillson said he’s relieved to see lawmakers tackling at least one major nonpartisan issue: water. Stricken with a statewide record-breaking drought and with no sign of its population growth slowing, Texas faces a looming shortage.
of widespread voter fraud to justify tightening restrictions on voting. Among the bills filed this session is one mirroring legislation adopted in Arizona that would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Voting-rights advocates argue the measure would disenfranchise many on the margins who are unable to present a passport, a birth certificate or other required proof of citizenship. Indeed, 1.3 million Texans who are U.S. citizens of voting age would have difficulty showing documentation improving their citizenship, according to recent research by advocacy group VoteRiders.
“Proof-of-citizenship laws are not about safeguarding elections,” said Selene Gomez, VoteRiders’ national outreach director. “They’re about silencing voters. We know that federal and state laws already protect election access and integrity. And we know that research shows that non-citizens voting is virtually non-existent.”
As per usual, right-wing lawmakers have flooded the session with proposals seeking to take rights away from LGBTQIA+ Texans. This year, civil-rights advocates count at least 80 such bills, many targeting schools. One proposal, for example, would ban teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity, while another would require school employees who learn a minor is socially transitioning from their birth gender to notify a parent.
High-profile bills in both the House and Senate would pump billions into securing future water sources for the state while repairing and upgrading aging infrastructure. Additionally, Abbott has declared water an emergency item for the session, potentially putting such legislation on a fast track during the session.
“The biggest positive this session is that they’re focused on water,” Jillson said. “It’s not glamorous stuff, but ensuring the state continues to have a dependable water supply is critical.”
Even so, the state appears to be ignoring yet another significant threat: that of the deep cuts the Trump White House is making to federal spending on social services. If lawmakers don’t move to bolster services such as health care availability, education and rural broadband, it will probably be another two years before they can address major disruptions.
Given the Texas Republican Party’s continued allegiance to Trump, that kind of action appears unlikely.
Indeed, the Texas Senate has already passed a bill that would create a Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, a body modeled after Trump advisor Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“The idea of establishing a Texas DOGE is particularly perverse because we’re already so tight-fisted when it comes to public spending,” Jillson said. “It’s hard to imagine where they could find any more to cut, even in the guise of rooting out corruption or improving efficiency.”
Shutterstock / amadeustx copy
Sense of Urgency
LGBTQIA+ advocates make record turnout to lobby Texas lawmakers amid increasingly hostile environment
BY MICHAEL KARLIS
AUSTIN — Roughly 1,300 LGBTQIA+ advocates convened Monday, March 25, at the Texas Capitol to lobby for better protections amid an increasingly hostile environment created by rightwing state and federal lawmakers.
The turnout was the largest ever for the All In For Equality Coalition’s annual advocacy day, said Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas. Organizers credited the attendance jump to political turmoil created by the Trump administration, which has trickled down to a flurry of bills filed in the Texas Legislature to strip rights from marginalized groups.
“We’re dealing with a federal administration that has launched a barrage of executive orders and terrible policies trying to erase LGBTQIA+ people from federal recognition,” Pritchett told the Current.
“Those things are designed to burn us out, to make us so outraged that we don’t know what to do. But what we’ve seen is people are really focusing that energy on trying to figure out what they can do with it.”
Those feeling a sense of urgency include Sophia Mirto, a member of Texas’ queer community and a former Austin City Council staffer. She carried a notepad full of details on more than 20 bills that she wanted to draw to lawmakers’ attention.
Those included Senate Bill 964, which would require a special mark on the drivers licenses of Texas migrants; Senate Bill 781 and House Bill 2486; both of which would make it harder for ordinary people to obtain police records; and Senate Bill 12, which would allow parents to access notes from their children’s school counselors.
Texas Republican lawmakers take aim at sex toy sales
BY MICHAEL KARLIS
Texas Republicans have declared war on personal pleasure devices, filing two separate bills this legislative session aimed at regulating the sale of vibrators and dildos.
Senate Bill 3003, filed by State Sen. Angela Paxton — a McKinney Republican married to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — takes aim at online retailers who sell sex toys. If passed, her proposal would require such businesses to use an age-verification process to confirm that
the person purchasing the goods is at least 18.
The second bill, HB 1549, filed by State Rep. Hillary Hickman, R-Midland, would ban retailers from selling “obscene devices” unless they’re a “sexually oriented” business. That ban would affect mainstream retailers who offer sexual health devices, among them Walmart, Target, CVS and Spencer’s. For reference, sexually oriented businesses under Texas law include adult bookstores, adult video stores and sex shops.
The penalty for violating both laws, if passed, is a fine of up to $5,000. What’s more, businesses caught selling sex toys
SB 12 was personal for Mirto.
“I grew up in an abusive home, and giving parents access to school counselor notes is a safety issue, not just for queer kids, but even for kids like me,” she said. “For young women, that’s especially terrifying.”
While Mirto and her friend Lisa Dawson, a former Texas public school teacher, lobbied for LGBTQ+ rights at the offices of House members Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, and James Talarico, D-Austin, San Antonio resident Rai Chavez lobbied Alamo City Democrats Roland Gutierrez and Barbra Gervin-Hawkins to vote against book bans and proposals that would deny bathroom access to transgender people. It was Chavez’s first time participating in an advocacy day event at the Capitol.
“All of these bills are relevant, because I’m non-binary and my partner is trans,” Chavez said. “If my partner can be arrested for feloniously presenting herself, that’s a problem.”
Many of the 80 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills filed this session amount to political grandstanding GOP lawmakers want to point to next time they’re up for reelection, according to political observers. Although most of those proposals don’t have a future, Equality Texas’ Pritchett warned that they represent a slippery slope.
“We’re usually the first target, and although these bills may be targeting us, the unintended consequences of those bills impact other communities just as much as they impact us,” Pritchett said.
to those under 18 would face a Class A misdemeanor charge.
Both bills come after the Texas legislature passed HB 1181 last session. That
law requires that adult-content websites, including PornHub, use an age verification service to confirm users are over 18 years old.
Michael Karlis
ONGOING - FRI | 05.09
VISUAL ART
‘BLUE: WATER AS METAPHOR EXHIBITION’
Visual artists Sabra Booth and Sophie Sanders met in New York City in the early 2000s, and both of their works explore environment and identity with a hauntingly fleeting timbre. Booth frequently sketches and paints her delicate works onsite, giving them the unaffected immediacy and naturalness of the plein air tradition. Meanwhile, multimedia artist Sanders often works in cyanotype, a printing process dating back to the 19th century in which sensitive emulsions are exposed to light and developed in water, giving prints a beautiful and elegiac Prussian blue hue. The theme of water — its impermanence and necessity — reverberates throughout both artists' bodies of work. In addition to the solo works on view, the artists collaborated on a cyanotype book project for this exhibition, which is also on display. Free, by appointment, Northwest Vista College, Palmetto Center for the Arts, 3535 N. Ellison Drive, (210) 486-4527, alamo.edu/nvc/palmetto. — Neil Fauerso
BLACK HISTORY FILM SERIES – HUSH (HELP US SAY HELP)
Despite their lifesaving utility, therapy and mental health resources are often socially stigmatized and viewed as a sign of personal weakness or failure. Author and filmmaker Antwon Lindsey’s 2023 documentary HUSH (Help Us Say Help) explores the need for mental health resources in Black communities, specifically those arising from generational trauma and the legacy of institutionalized discrimination and oppression. HUSH is another strong entry in the Carver’s ongoing Black History Film Series, presented by the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum. The series continues to provide the city with opportunities to experience hard-to-see and often undistributed films by independent Black filmmakers which resonate with the community. Free, 6 p.m., Little Carver Theatre, 226 N. Hackberry St., (210) 7243350, saaacam.org. — NF
FRI | 04.04
SPORTS SPURS VS. CAVALIERS
Boasting separate winning streaks of 16, 15 and 12 games, and with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the dominance of the Cleveland Cavaliers has been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season. All-Stars Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley have propelled the Cavs to one of the best regular season records in franchise history and home court advantage in a potential playoff rematch with the Boston Celtics. The defending champions closed out Cleveland in five games in last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals and are 2-2 against the Cavs this season. After recent wins against East opponents, the Spurs have reached at least 30 wins for the first time in two seasons. Acting head coach Mitch Johnson recently reflected on the team’s response to a tumultuous season following consecutive wins for the first time since the start of January. “I think that’s one thing we’ve been very evenkeeled on is not playing up or down no matter what is going on in our crazy season that we’ve had,” he explained. $20 and up, 7 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com, KENS. — M. Solis
FRI | 04.04
COMEDY
STAVROS HALKIAS
Stavros Halkias isn't a household name, but after the release of his 2024 special Fat Rascal and his co-starring turn in Tires with Shane Gillis, it won't be long. A Magoobys Joke House New Comedian of the year, Halkias is known for incorporating crowd work into his observational standup and also for convincing you that weird can be downright hilarious. Those who follow stand-up also may know him from the Stavvy's World podcast, where he and other comics dish out advice, or the 2024 dark comedy Let's Start a Cult, which he co-wrote and starred in. On a recent episode of the YouTube series Hot Ones, Halkias admitted, "All I want to do is make dumb movies." The 84% audience rating for Let’s Start a Cult on Rotten Tomatoes suggests he succeeded. $35-$60, 8 p.m., HEB Performance Hall, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Valerie Lopez
Courtesy Photo Palmetto Center for the Arts
Instagram spurs
Courtesy Photo Stravos Halkias
FRI | 04.04 - SAT | 04.05 CLASSICAL
SAN ANTONIO PHILHARMONIC: THE CLASSICS VIII
As the San Antonio Philharmonic continues the struggle for its very existence, the orchestra’s creative decisions continue to up the ante in terms of guest performers and conductors, drawing in luminaries that hold the capacity to grow the potential audience for live classical music. For The Classics VIII concert, the San Antonio Philharmonic presents bassoonist and conductor Anthony Parnther, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as the “quintessential LA musician of our day.” He will conduct works by an intriguing trio of composers: Weber, Purrington and Brahms. Known for his versatility and as a collaborator with anyone from violinist Joshua Bell to Wu-Tang Clan, Parnther is also one of today’s foremost film conductors. He’s led projects including the Oscar-winning score for Oppenheimer, the Emmy-winning The Mandalorian, Avatar: The Way of Water and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, among others. Here’s a chance to see him in action and find out what nuances Wu-Tang and Brahms might have in common in the hands of a contemporary virtuoso. $32 and up, 7:30 p.m., Scottish Rite Auditorium, 308 Ave E, (210) 222-0133, sanantonioscottishrite.com. — Anjali Gupta
JIM HENSON’S LABYRINTH: IN CONCERT
Labyrinth can be considered the late puppeteer Jim Henson's supreme work: imaginative, twisted and funny, yet deeply endearing. It still plays like gangbusters for today’s children as much as it delights millennials — or the Gen Xers who were the original audience of this masterpiece. It’s also arguably one of David Bowie's most iconic film roles, aside from The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) and The Hunger (1983). The live musical performance will be synched to the original film’s score, letting the audience experience Bowie — as impossibly elegant as ever — in the role of Jareth, the mischievous Goblin King. The glittering, ecstatic, original songs from the film will also be performed by a live band and synched with Bowie's recorded vocals. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Bowie and Henson fans to relive youthful fantasy, as well as a perfect introduction to anyone who hasn’t yet experienced the magic of Labyrinth. $29.50 and up, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — NF
THU | 04.10
SPECIAL EVENT
PECHAKUCHA SAN ANTONIO VOL. 46
On quiet weekday evenings over the past 14 years, San Antonians have gathered in some of the city’s most beloved architectural landmarks — among them the Empire Theatre, the Scottish Rite Cathedral and Mission Marquee Plaza — to discover, through the glorious medium of PowerPoint, what their neighbors do for a living. Started in Tokyo in 2003 by an architectural firm looking to bring their city’s diverse workforce together, PechaKucha nights — pronounced pay-tcha koo-tcha — have since spread to 1,100 cities in 140 countries, while retaining the same simple, indelible, endlessly adaptable format: presentations of 20 slides where each slide auto-advances after 20 seconds, resulting in short, sweet introductions to one’s interests. The latest installment at the historic Sunken Garden Theater features six brave souls: animal advocate Emily Casso, creative director and designer David Carlos Garcia Jr., chefs and business owners John and Elise Russ, writer Tori Pool, immigration attorney Cristian Sánchez and Trinity University archivist Abra Schnur. Artists Cruz and Olivia Ortiz will serve as emcees, complemented by musical guest Primo Y Beebe and flavored by a pre-show “happiest hour” at 7 p.m. the promises to build community an hour before presentations begin. $10, 7 p.m., Sunken Garden Theater, 3875 N. St. Mary’s St., pechakucha.com. — Dean Zach
Courtesy Photo San Antonio Philharmonic
FRI | 04.11SUN | 04.13
SPECIAL EVENT
JURASSIC QUEST
The popular interactive dinosaur exhibit is returning to the Alamo City, transporting us back 165 million years. Since its debut 10 years ago, Jurassic Quest is touted as the nation’s largest, most scientifically accurate dino expo — and it certainly corrals an impressive herd of realistic-looking thunder lizards. Designed to be both fun and educational, the exhibit covers the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods through interactive displays, realistic tableaus, a self-guided scavenger hunt and fossil digs. Also included are animatronic baby-dinosaur meet-and-greets — which include a baby Camarasaurus, a T-Rex and Triceratops — and the largest rideable dinosaurs in North America. Perfect for thrill-seekers and budding paleontologists alike, Jurassic Quest collaborates with scientists and leverages the latest research in the field of paleontology to provide viewers with authentic replicas of the way dinosaurs looked and moved, providing a prehistoric adventure to children of all ages. $22-$95, noon-6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Freeman Expo Hall, 3201 E. Houston St., jurassicquest.com. — AG
SAN ANTONIO BOOK FESTIVAL
On a normal Friday evening, the Central Library grows dark, still, quiet, the only discernible voices being those contained in the books on the shelves. On Saturday morning, the library and its grounds alongside UTSA Southwest’s campus will roar to full volume with the arrival of the 13th annual San Antonio Book Festival. With more than 60 author panels to choose from, there’s truly something for any reader. Highlights include “Fearless Books, Brave Writers” presented by Sandra Cisneros (10 a.m.), the first ever SABF “Romantasy” panel (11 p.m.), “Poetry, Art and the Border” with poets Octavio Quintanilla and Roberto Tejada (1:15 p.m.) and the “Ultimate Illustrator Sketch-Off” featuring four illustrious illustrators competing based on audience suggestions (2:45 p.m.). The festival casts a wide net, and the creators in its ample grasp range from writers with national reach such as Stephen Graham Jones, Laila Lalami, Karen Russell and NPR host Linda Holmes to local luminaries Joe Holley, Diana López and UTSA historian Omar Valerio-Jiménez. Expect plentiful book signings, thought-provoking conversations and opportunities to let one’s literary flag fly. Free, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Central Library, 600 Soledad St., UTSA Southwest Campus, 300 Augusta St., (210) 750-8951, sabookfestival.org. — DZ
SAT
| 04.12
COMEDY
KEVIN HART
Kevin Hart, recipient of last year’s Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, is bringing his signature high-energy comedy back to San Antonio for the Acting My Age tour. The stand-up and actor transforms the mundane into jabs about himself delivered with rapid-fire wit. For a performer of small stature, Hart's career is anything but. In the past year alone, he’s released his latest special Reality Check, starred in the Netflix movie Lift, starred in the Die Hart series, made a guest appearance on Abbott Elementary, voiced animated shows, hosted The Roast of Tom Brady and co-hosted the 2024 Olympic Highlights. We’re worn out just writing up the list. When does the guy sleep? The Philadelphia native and long-time Eagles fan celebrated the team's Superbowl win earlier this year, but he appears to have a soft spot for San Antonio. His first world tour, What Now?, launched here in April 2015. Ten years later, we can all agree that the answer has always been "more laughs.” $90-$250, 7:30 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com. — VL
SAT | 04.13
SPORTS SPURS VS. RAPTORS
The San Antonio Spurs close out their 2024-25 campaign on Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors with head coach Gregg Popovich, All-Star Victor Wembanyama and former All-Star De’Aaron Fox recovering from assorted health issues. Swingman Devin Vassell has stepped up for the Silver and Black on both ends of the court in recent games. When the two teams matched up in Toronto last month, Vassell led all scorers with 25 points in a 123-89 blowout win. Rookie of the Year frontrunner Stephon Castle contributed 15 points and 5 rebounds. Along with the durability of Chris Paul in season 20, Castle has provided a bright point for San Antonio this season. As attention turns to the NBA Draft in June, some of the early names expected to be available at the Spurs’ projected position include Duke forward Kon Knueppel and South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles. Heading into an offseason of healing and uncertainty, San Antonio’s rebuild continues. $14 and up, 2:30 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com, Fanduel Sports Network-Southwest. — MS
Courtesy Photo San Antonio Book Festival
Shutterstock Featureflash Photo Agency
Instagram spurs
Courtesy Photo Jurassic Quest
Garden Party
A diverse trio of women artists finds common ground at Artpace San Antonio
BY BRYAN RINDFUSS
Twice a year, Artpace’s International Artist-in-Residence program invites a trio of artists — one from Texas, one from elsewhere in the U.S. and one from abroad — to live and work in San Antonio for a period of two months.
Supported by a $6,000 stipend and a production budget of up to $10,000, the resident artists are encouraged to experiment freely while creating new projects befitting what late Artpace founder Linda Pace dubbed her “laboratory of dreams.” All selected by guest curators, these artists might have little in common — and the site-specific exhibitions they create might be devoid of connective threads.
However, when synergism does occur, the takeaways become more resonant and holistic — as is the case with the recently unveiled exhibitions created by Laura Veles Drey (Houston), Anita Fields (Stillwater, Oklahoma) and Lorena Molina (San Francisco, California via El Salvador).
During an opening reception and artists’ talk
held on March 20, New Hampshire-based guest curator Jami Powell highlighted some of the parallel themes trickling through Drey’s “Nothing Grows in a Straight Line,” Fields’ “Where the Light Shines Through” and Molina’s “Cuando el Regreso es la Cosecha (When the Return Is the Harvest)” — exhibition titles that could easily double as chapters of the same book.
For starters, there’s an abundance of greenery throughout — which runs the gamut from implied vegetation to actual plants growing in the galleries.
Drey took on the tedious task of stitching green plastic produce baskets into her Meadow — a 15-foot long grid she paired with pollinators and native plants. Curiously, she likened the piece to such contemplative landmarks as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“We have all these great memorials,” she mused. “So I thought, why don’t I take something like this and highlight the labor [involved] but also [celebrate] the life [it has]. So there is color in the work. And the idea [was] to lay out a field that has the potential to be what you want it to be as you sit in front of it and think about it. And that’s a meadow — where things grow wildly. And it gives you permission to do whatever it is that you need to move forward.”
Fields referenced her own identity as a citizen of the Osage Nation in The Memory of the Sun and The Earth Carries a Memory — mixed media-wall hangings that combine indigenous weaving techniques and verdant photographs of the Cahokia and Sugarloaf ceremonial mounds.
MSalvadorian artist Lorena Molina (center) hired cumbia band Chulada to perform at the opening of her garden-like Artpace exhibition “Cuando el Regreso es la Cosecha (When the Return Is the Harvest). ”
“This is our original homeland,” Fields said of Missouri’s Sugarloaf Mound. “And so I connect this to identity as who we are as people today, and use elements from our Osage clothing to pair that with that land.”
Additionally, Molina transformed her exhibition space into a conceptual greenhouse by presenting symbolic crops — including corn, bean, coffee and banana plants representative of her native El Salvador — as nourishing works of art.
“El Salvador fought for like 12 years in a civil war,” Molina explained. “And it lasted that long because the U.S. helped fund it. … I’m always thinking about the what if. What if the U.S. hadn’t intervened? What if we would have had a chance to stay? … We’re witnessing these violent mass deportations right now, [and] I’m constantly thinking about agency. What does it mean for us to have a say [about] where we stay and where we go? This garden has different things that are tied to ideas of return for me. A lot of [my] work is related to land and access to land — and who benefits from it.”
Molina added that she also loves growing food.
“It’s very much ingrained in me, [and] I think I’m pretty good at it,” she said with a laugh. “I
Bryan Rindfuss
arts
think it’s a very ancestral desire.”
Fittingly, the artists became familiar with one another over a shared meal at a pizza joint near Artpace.
“When I met these beautiful ladies, we hit it off over pizza one night,” Fields recalled. “[It was] like two or three hours after we met and we just saw the threads kind of immediately.”
Upon hearing this factoid during the artists’ talk, one guest was determined to find out exactly which pizzeria they’d visited.
“Leo’s Hideout,” curator Jami Powell confirmed.
“I’ve been in restaurants my whole life, [and] I believe there’s something sacred about hospitality and good food,” the guest said. “And to hear y’all talk about how your relationship was sort of awakened and galvanized by pizza, it’s kind of inspiring to me.”
Shared meals continued throughout the residency, with the artists taking turns as providers.
“We were cooking for each other,” Drey said. “Lorena would bring things from her family’s garden to help feed us. And then one of us would rotate and cook something and share. We fed each other and cared for each other. And we kind of made our own Artpace garden where we tended to it with our love and our hard work.”
Family ties also emerged as a common theme. Drey’s piece Passerby: Americana entails a large-scale photograph of a familiar-looking field in the Rio Grande Valley that she snapped from a moving car during a road trip with her mother and her daughter.
Fields referenced the archival tags her grandmother made while working at the Osage Museum in her piece The Sun Leads You Home — a translucent houselike sculpture suspended from the ceiling and hovering above a pair of clay moccasins she modeled after traditional Osage footwear. She also collaborated with her son on a soundscape that adds depth to her exhibition.
“I know nothing about music,” Fields said. “I don’t know how [my son] became a fiddler … but I think it’s really beautiful. My whole family is involved in the arts, and so I bounced ideas with him. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but it’s very meaningful for me to be able to have his sound in there.”
Molina also collaborated with family members on a soundscape — one comprised of whistles and hums that bubble up from plastic water-collection barrels.
“I was thinking a lot about whistling and humming,” Molina said. “It’s some-
thing [we do] when we’re waiting. [And] this work is about waiting. This work is about wishing. But also, in the Civil War, [people] would use whistling as a secret language. So it’s almost like a call and response.”
Furthering the familial involvement, Molina worked with her aunt, who lives in San Antonio, borrowing plants from her garden and using her kitchen to make jars of Salvadorian curtido (fermented vegetables) she presented like edible time capsules.
“I wanted to create an archive of the bacteria in her kitchen,” Molina said. “I think fermentation is pretty cool … and this is food that could potentially be used for the future.”
Touching on the growth, greenery and other common ground in all three exhi-
MHouston-based Laura Veles Drey stitched together plastic produce bins to create her Artpace installation Meadow.
bitions, Jami Powell recited Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos’ oft-quoted couplet, “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” Introduced in 1978, that refrain has evolved into a powerful message of resistance that’s very much in keeping with the collected works Powell helped bring to fruition.
But the curator’s key takeaway was the artists’ shared practice of “monumentalizing the mundane.” In addition to the unexpected applications of produce bins, plants and plastic barrels, those
MOklahoma-based Anita Fields referenced the Osage creation story in the sculptural installation When the Elk Created the Earth.
everyday elements of surprise included an American flag-inspired curtain Drey crafted from 8,000 twisty-ties, milk crates that Molina used as pedestals to uplift her work and a plastic elk that Fields spray-painted metallic gold.
“We all bounced ideas off of each other … [and] I was dreaming about this elk for two or three weeks … [and] it ’s gotta be gold,” Fields said of her piece When the Elk Created the Earth, which references a legend about an elk that sacrificed itself to grant the Osage people fertile land. “[I decided] I’m going to do that — because the elk is really important in our Osage creation story. He created the earth.”
Reflecting on the Artpace residency, Fields summed it all up poetically, thanking Powell for “pulling the thread” that connected them all.
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE EXHIBITIONS
Free, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday through July 13, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4990, artpace.org.
Bryan Rindfuss
Bryan Rindfuss
Ready for Readers
Newly opened San Antone Books banking on a novel approach
BY STEPHANIE KOITHAN
River City readers now have another local spot to get their lit.
San Antone Books, 2102 McCullough Ave, debuted in February in the Monte Vista neighborhood. In the age of Amazon and big chain retailers such as Barnes & Noble, the indie bookshop defies the standard business models thanks to its old-school curation, owner Alberto Bisi said.
“When we had our grand opening, our wholesaler told us they were going to give us the starting package that they normally do,” said Bisi, referring to a standard-issue mass shipment of merchandise that newly
opened bookstores often receive to get started.
Bisi wanted more control over the selection than that.
“We pick in single titles, so everything you see around you has been hand-picked,” he added.
The name San Antone Books suggests the business’ owner has spent a lifetime in the Alamo City. But owner Alberto Bisi is a new transplant hailing from Bologna, Italy.
For such a small space, the store’s collection spans a wide range of works, including literary fiction, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, classics, non-fiction, biographies, spy stories, nature, graphic novels and self-help books. The authors hail from Texas, France, Russia, Scandinavia, Japan, South Korea and of course, Italy.
“It’s an amazing neighborhood because we sell about one Divine Comedy per week,”
Bisi said, referring to the medieval text by Italian poet Dante Alighieri. “In fact, one day, an old man came in, and he was born and raised in San Antonio with no Italian origins, but when he realized I was Italian he started to recite the Divine Comedy in Italian — but it’s 14th Century Italian!”
The customer turned out to be a literature professor from San Antonio College.
In the main room of San Antone Books, a display table features works by female authors in honor of Women’s History Month and a window display celebrates Japanese authors for Cherry Blossom Day. The back room offers a children’s section.
Anything the shop doesn’t have in stock can be ordered and received in two business days, according to Bisi.
San Antone Books is already adapting to the needs of the neighborhood. The bookshop is nestled next to cult coffee shop Gravves Coffee, supplying the bookstore with a steady stream of goths and causing it to rapidly expand its horror section.
“We sold out of horror on opening day,” Bisi said.
Bisi and his wife Valentina both work in
publishing, though Bisi declines to name the publisher that employs him, hoping to keep the bookstore separate. Valentina was at a book fair in Milan at the time of this interview.
“We are on two continents working in publishing, and a bookstore was a natural consequence,” Bisi said. “We are always surrounded by books in our daily life.”
Twenty years in the publishing business also means Bisi has connections with wellknown authors, many of whom he hopes to bring to the store for future signing events.
With many readers buying their books on Amazon, Bisi acknowledges he’s in a David-and-Goliath competition. His CPA even advised him against opening a bookstore.
“We will see,” Bisi said. “But I believe in human beings, and human connection too.”
Bisi is hopeful the curated aspect that once drew people to indie bookshops will make all the difference in the story of San Antone Books.
“In a way, it’s a bet,” Bisi added. “And we will need readers’ help to win it.”
Stephanie Koithan
Free as a Bird
Steve
Coogan finds enlightenment with penguin as co-star in The Penguin Lessons
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
When actor Steve Coogan and screenwriter Jeff Pope work together, great things happen.
The best example is when Coogan starred in the 2013 drama Philomena, which he and Pope wrote together. The film earned the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Now, the duo has reunited for new comedy-drama The Penguin Lessons
Adapted by Pope from author Tom Michell’s 2016 memoir of the same name, the film stars Coogan as Tom, a British teacher who takes a job at an elite boarding school in Argentina in 1976 during the country’s coup d’état. Disheartened by a past tragedy, Tom finds his spirit again when he rescues a penguin from an oil spill on the beach.
During a recent interview with the Current, Coogan, 59, whose films include Night at the Museum, In the Loop and Hamlet 2, talked about why he was initially hesitant about taking on the role, how he bonded with his penguin costar and what it took to learn some of his lines in Spanish.
The Penguin Lessons is currently playing at local theaters.
What ultimately got you to say yes to a movie that you weren’t sure you wanted to do?
I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a film about a cuddly penguin. It didn’t sound like my thing at all. But [Jeff and I] talked more about it. I went and visited Buenos Aires. I remembered the history of the military dictatorship. I thought maybe there was a film about this dark, tumultuous time, and the penguin could be a bit of light relief — a symbiosis where the darkness of the political situation stops the penguin from being cuddly, and the penguin stops the discussion about malevolent forces.
What spoke to you the most about Tom’s memoir?
That he used the penguin as a tool to enlighten people. What seemed like a burden could actually be something that liberates you. We made [Tom] cynical and battle-hardened and disengaged from the world so we had somewhere for him to go. He ended up connecting with [his students] in a much more meaningful way because of this small, furry animal. The penguin became the catalyst that changes his attitude.
You have to be an animal lover to agree to work with a penguin, right?
I am. I have dogs and cats. I’m one of those guys. When we first started the film, I had to bond with the penguins. So, I went to visit them in this very nice place where they’re looked after. There are two hero penguins called Baba and Richard, who played the main penguin. I would greet them every morning, so they could hear my voice and make sure they got used to me. I liked seeing them in the morning. I liked talking to them in some ways. It actually benefited me as a person, not just as an actor. It calms you down. It’s a good way to start the day: chatting to a penguin with a coffee in your hand.
What did you learn about penguins as costars?
They have a mating cycle and a molting cycle, so you have to get them at the right time so as not to cause them any distress. On an anecdotal level, I learned about their inscrutability. In the film, we talk about mindfulness. You look at a penguin and think, “He doesn’t have any anxiety about the past [or] the future. He’s just in the moment.” That’s what I took from it: that I need to be more like the penguin.
What was the experience like learning some of your lines in Spanish?
I’m not a Spanish speaker. I studied it for a
year 45 years ago. I knew enough about the pronunciation and what certain words meant. I learned it phonetically and had a coach. There was an entirely Spanish[-speaking] crew who were impressed. They came up and patted me on the back and went, “You sounded like a native.” So, it was fun, and it was a challenge.
You’ve played a teacher before. Did it come naturally to you since in this film you play it more like Dead Poets Society and less like Dana Marschz, the teacher you play in Hamlet 2?
Yeah, I feel quite comfortable playing a teacher. I guess I’m probably more like Tom Michell than [my character] in Hamlet 2.
But my brother and sister are teachers. A lot of people with Irish Catholic backgrounds from down the social classes became teachers as a way out of poverty. I’d like to think if I had been a teacher, I would have been a pretty good one.
Speaking of Hamlet 2, what do you think Mr. Marschz would be up to if you checked on him today?
I think he’d be engaged in the community. He was naïve, but he was the supreme optimist. He might be running a community theater group, trying to inspire young people. And he would totally bring a penguin in the classroom.
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Cooking Up Conversation
Mare E Monte owner Prince Blakaj escaped wartorn Kosovo to pursue his American dream
BY KAT STINSON
Name: Prince Blakaj
Job: Owner, Mare E Monte
Birthplace: Istog, Kosovo
Years in food service: Six
Big Impact: Blakaj, a survivor of the Kosovo War, knew he wanted to open up his first restaurant in San Antonio in homage to the members of the U.S. armed forces who kept him safe as a child. April will mark Mare e Monte’s first anniversary.
Money Quote: “I moved to Military City USA because I wanted to live amongst my heroes, the members of the military who decided to give their life away and go serve overseas.”
Local military service members frequently stop by Mare E Monte after they hear your story about growing up during the Kosovo War. What’s a recent visit that stuck with you?
I met a guy whose son was born on Aviano Air Base in Italy. Aviano Air Base has a very special place in my heart because that’s where the F-16s came from that saved my life, my family’s life and the lives of my fellow countrymen and -women. So, for me, Aviano Air Base has a special place in my heart, so meeting people that were born there or served there is very special for me.
Describe the ambience at Mare E Monte.
If you want to experience what feels like fine dining with reasonable prices, where you feel like family, you feel like home, come to Mare E Monte. You will be treated the best way somebody can treat you. We call it unreasonable hospitality. We are here to take care of you.
Any plans to open a second location?
Not right now. Mare E Monte is still a baby. He needs to grow up a bit more. He needs to learn from his mistakes. I would move somewhere else in the Medical Center just to have a bigger kitchen. That’s the only reason I would do it.
What are some of your go-to dishes at Mare e Monte?
My Albanian heritage has a big influence on all the flavors on the menu. Some of my favorites are the Bronx Vitello Parmigiana,
the Calamari all’ Arrabbiata and the Pollo e Monte. We’re excited about some new menu items coming up soon. We’re gonna add more flavors that San Antonio hasn’t [experienced] and more dishes San Antonio hasn’t heard about, and some options for gluten-sensitive guests.
What do you hope guests take away from your life story, so far?
This is the story I want to continue to tell: to let everybody know how important American values are for people all over the world, and whenever these people think that America is doing too much, I think America
is being what it is supposed to be.
Why did you want to move to San Antonio and choose to open your first restaurant here?
I moved to Military City USA because I wanted to live amongst my heroes, the members of the military who decided to give their life away and go serve overseas — they didn’t know if they would come back alive. I have high respect for people that are willing to die so other people can live and thrive, so other people can do whatever they are supposed to do in life. So, the respect for them and the ability to live amongst my heroes is just more than I ever deserved in my life.
Courtesy Photo GoodFood Branding & Marketing
food
Bake It Til You Make It
Giant cookies are the rage. We tried chains such as Crumbl and local bakeries to see if bigger is really better
BY RON BECHTOL
These days, Texas isn’t the only place where bigger is better. Especially when it comes to food.
A nationwide craze for monster-sized cookies has been developing for some time now, and the expansion of Utah’s buzzy Crumbl Cookies into San Antonio only reinforces the trend. With more than 1,000 U.S. outlets, the company claims to be the country’s fastest-growing cookie franchise. Apparently, the rest of the world is next.
San Antonio’s six Crumbl bakeries, as elsewhere, features a menu that rotates weekly and an open kitchen where customers can watch the cookies being made. A Barbie-pink delivery car also may be parked outside.
Should you bite?
Crumbl’s website offers a hint about its baked goods when it poses the operational choice to “accept all cookies” — never gonna happen — or “reject non-essential cookies.”
Is the chain’s OG Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk “essential,” for example? For me, and at 770 calories, it’s almost too much of a good thing. With a ratio of chip-todough that comes down heavily in favor of neat, chocolate cubes, there’s little chew or crunch to balance the chocolate — and what actual cookie there is seems, well, doughy.
Obviously, some folks love this cookie. At roughly $4.50 a pop, I don’t totally reject it, but I don’t embrace it either.
The Churro Toffee cookie employs white chocolate “drops” — a real churro is best dipped in thick, lava-dark hot chocolate, just FYI — some toffee bits and a dusting of cinnamon sugar that counts for little. The overall texture is better than the chocolate chip, but the overall impression is one principally of sweetness and vanilla.
Essential? No.
Though not a fan of marshmallow fluff, the S’mores cookie achieves a better balance. I can’t say that the matrix itself screams graham cracker, but the flavor is reinforced by graham crumbles on top, milk chocolate within and both marshmallow puddles and drizzles and pools of darker chocolate for contrast.
This one works.
If it weren’t for its pesky wrapper and a cookies-and-cream bottom crust that is disappointingly soggy, the Turtle Cheesecake almost works, too. Caramel, chocolate ganache and toasty chopped pecans recall the classic confection and add to the indulgent mix for a dessert that, unlike the others, may actually deserve its own pink box.
While Crumbl is the behemoth in terms of big-cookie bakeries, it’s not alone in embracing the trend.
Cookie Plug, with a mere 25 locations nationwide, including two in San Antonio, claims hip-hop and graffiti as inspirations. Appropriately it calls its cookies “FAT, THICC, and BOMB.”
The chain has that part right, at least. My perfectly round OG Chocolate Chip ($5.00) weighed in at a frightening 5.11 ounces. If you’re the kind of cookie monster that likes the dough better than the baked product, then this may be for you.
Personally, I found it too thick and heavy to have been cooked all the way through, and would say the same of the Crunch Nugget Chocolate Peanut Butter Phatty. Even with its 5.33-ounce heft, it needed both more chocolate and more peanut. You don’t have to go the chain route to get your monster fix, of course.
Bird Bakery in Alamo Heights offers a Double Chocolate Chip at $4.50 that’s essentially a Toll House cookie with a fancier education. I’m not sure the 5.5-inch diameter diameter adds anything but visual delight, but this is a classic chipper worth some attention —even if I might prefer the chocolate a little less finely chopped.
Even better is the cookie Bird actually calls The Monster. This loftier creation has it all: chocolate bits, M&Ms, craggy-textured oats. It’s an every-bite-a-delight cookie. Just my kind.
If you happen to be in either Monte Vista or Southtown, drop by Extra Fine Bakery for its take on the chocolate chip cookie. It’s made with rye flour and comes across as nutty and almost meaty in flavor.
And if you’re sticking to Monte Vista, by all means make a stop at Lilly’s Cookies. The bakery’s Monster chocolate chip ($3.75) is a visual extravaganza, employing plentiful M&Ms, a shower of sprinkles, exuberant drizzles of dark
chocolate and impressive chunks within. The giant S’mores cookie, adorned with a mound of mini-marshmallows, is equally extravagant visually, and taste-wise, it’s more than just a pretty face.
But when it comes down to it, supersizing and pink packaging may be fun on occasion, but give me a bag of Lilly’s small, unassuming, and perfect chocolate chip cookies ($.95) any day. Or, to be honest, make that peanut butter. Therein lies true bliss.
and the Clams taking its ‘LSD prom’ to San Antonio’s Paper Tiger
BY BILL BAIRD
Shannon and the Clams filter the classic energy of early rock ’n’ roll through a twisted modern sensibility.
Consider it Buddy Holly and the Ronettes but updated for 21st century weirdos. Or, perhaps, a musical version of a John Waters film.
Frontwoman Shannon Shaw is a renowned figure in the underground music scene for her fearless performances. She pretty much owns any room.
Now touring a new LP, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place, Shannon and the Clams will play the Paper Tiger on Friday, April 4, with Austin’s Being Dead opening the show. The album finds the group dealing with personal loss and expanding its musical palette.
Ahead of the show, we caught up with Clams guitarist Cody Blanchard about the new record, Texas’ weirdness and the band’s relocation out of its Oakland, California, birthplace.
For those unfamiliar with your sound, how would you describe your band?
An LSD prom, something like that.
Sweet and innocent early rock ’n’ roll but with twisted aspects?
Yes. Kind of a David Lynch feeling. There’s a bit of spaghetti western in there.
How does this new album feel different?
It’s about death. Our friend died, and it’s all dedicated to him. So, that’s different. Maybe a little tougher and darker than the last ones. More rocking, maybe. I’m very musically restless, so I’m always trying to push our personal envelope. Shannon often likes to do the comfortable thing and I don’t. When we’re writing for the record, we each come in with our ideas, and Shannon will be like, “That’s too weird,” or whatever. And then I end up saying to her, “This is a little boring, can we make this weirder?”
Sounds like a proper collaboration. It’s a proper band, yeah. We had Will our keyboard player sing lead on a couple songs this time, which was new. He has his own stuff. He’s been recording forever. Our drummer also co-wrote a song. That was new also for us.
How’s the Bay Area these days?
None of us live there anymore … we all left. I want to move back, but it’s too expensive for me at the moment. Nate lives in Arizona, Will lives in Nevada City, I live in Oregon,
Have you had any Texas experiences on tour? Any run-ins with cowboys?
There’s a weird undercurrent to San Antonio. Have you been to the Alamo? I have not, but the rest of the band has been over there.
You know the drummer Phil Collins? He believes he fought in the battle of the Alamo in a previous life.
Oh, God. Which side?
The side of … freedom. Freedom. (Laughs.)
There’s a new wing — a Phil Collins wing — at the Alamo, filled with all his Alamo artifacts. He was the largest collector of Alamo stuff in the world. What, dude? What? That’s crazy. What the hell?
That combined with Pee Wee’s Big Adventure —
Yeah, man. San Antonio is cool. We’ve been to Houston too. Houston is interesting and weird. I went to the science museum there, and it was all about how good oil drilling is. Clearly paid for by an oil company.
They run the show here. Speaking of Texans, seems like you guys would like Buddy Holly. Yeah, we do. He’s a Texas boy.
I’ve never seen any actual cowboys in Texas. I see rock ’n’ roll dudes with cowboy hats. Party dudes. We’re usually in cities — no real cowboys.
You think a real cowboy would like your music?
I don’t think so, honestly. We do have some farmer friends who like it. Agriculture people. They can surprise you. Not always, but sometimes. This farmer one time brought us a crate of avocados and cheese and stuff to a show and invited us to come stay on his farm.
We were in Texas four years ago. It had snowed, and the freeway was completely fucked. Traffic had stopped. We tried to go across the freeway, across this huge hill and patch of grass, but we got stuck in the mud. We were rocking the van, putting stuff under the wheels.
There was this dude in an F-150 tearing around the snow and mud on the hill, just whipping around. He drove over to us and offered to help. Hooked up a chain to our axle, pulled the van out. That guy was a real cowboy dude. With that truck, he must wait all year to rescue someone, feel really cool. He said, “I’ll show you the cool way,” then he took us down a country road to avoid all the freeway traffic.
$25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.
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Shannon lives in Southern California. Excited to tour.
Courtesy Photo Shannon and the Clams
Life Is Strange
San Antonio cosmic cowboy Garrett T. Capps drops album he calls his ‘most personal and honest’
BY JEPH DUARTE
“Iwant to live a life of balance; I want to live a full life,” San Antonio singer-songwriter Garrett T. Capps drawls in the opening line of his new album Life Is Strange
The Alamo City native known for his cosmic blending of country and Krautrock has developed into one of the most prolific writers of this town has seen. He turns out albums with such frequency that he can afford to release material with minimal fanfare, which is precisely what he did with Life Is Strange
“Somewhere along the way I got it in my head that you have to do a full press rollout — music videos, tour, blah, blah, blah — for an album when you release it,” Capps told the Current. “I think it is totally fine, but it is exhausting and stressful.”
Life Is Strange is off the beaten path, even for Capps.
“This is my most personal and honest album so far, foos,” he explained on his Bandcamp page.
“Losin’ My Mind” pulls back the veil on Capps’ fears — the isolation of an only child, the loss of his father and his struggles with trust and love.
With titles like “Endless Hole,” “I’m Afraid To Go Outside” and “Toxic Serenity,” it’s easy to tell Capps was in a different headspace than when he wrote earlier favorites including “People Are Beautiful” and “Flow State.”
Even the song “Happy Birthday” from Life Is Strange features the refrain “Happy birthday … we’re all gonna die.”
Although a diversion from his normal output, Capps still showcases his patented flair with penning catchy dance songs — despite their downbeat subject matter, both “I’m Afraid To Go Outside” and “Toxic Serenity” both qualify. He also includes trademark emotional ballads (“For You & I” and “Floatin’”) and his introspective, genre-blending take
on Americana highlights the title track.
The session for Life Is Strange germinated after the release of 2023’s People Are Beautiful, the third album of his “Shadows Trilogy.”
Although Capps works most consistently with the backing band NASA Country, he brought in a different team to realize Life Is Strange
“They have all been friends of mine for a while,” Capps said of the musicians on his latest release. “I wanted to make a cowpunkish album and called ‘em up.”
The sessions took place at The Zone recording studio in Dripping Springs. Pat Manske engineered the recording, and it was produced by David Beck, the onetime musical partner of outlaw country singer-songwriter Paul Cauthen. Beck also contributed bass, accordion and backing vocals.
In addition to the essential guitarbass-and-drums foundation, Life Is Strange features flourishes of accordion, keys, pedal steel, fiddle and even saxophone. Despite the rich arrangements, the album has a simpler feel than some of Capps’ most recent releases.
That may reflect why he put it out into the world with such little hoopla.
“I decided it would be cool to release this album kinda the way I recorded it,” Capps said. “No frills.”
Courtesy Photo Garrett T. Capps
Mar 1 - Apr 20, 2025 Also Open Friday, Mar 21st 10 AM To Dusk Rain Or Shine | No Pets (except in campgrounds) -Camping Available-
1883 Old Hwy 20 Mcdade, Tx 78650 35 Miles East Of Austin -Or-
2 Hrs Northeast Of San Antonio
Entertainment
Join Robin Hood & Lady Marian as they host full contact jousting, falconry, swordplay, archery, juggling, comedy, theater & more. Medieval England comes to life in Central Texas.
Artisans + Merchants
We host a grand selection of hand-crafted goods in Central Texas. We offer demonstrations like glass blowing, blacksmithing, pottery spinning, leather armor making, weaving, jewelry & art creation, & others.
Song + Dance
You'll find minstrels, bards, storytellers, magicians, jugglers, & all types of performers strolling our lanes & playing on our stages. If you're lucky, you may spot a faery or two!
Food + Drink
From trenchers weighty with tasty fare to tankards overflowing with foamy mead, there's plenty to eat and drink at Sherwood Forest Faire. You'll discover medieval treats & delicacies.
critics’ picks
Friday, April 4-Sunday, April 6
Pitbull, T-Pain, Jelly Roll, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and more Both music fans and sports buffs have something to gain with the men’s Final Four being in town. Over its weekend-long run, the March Madness Music Festival at Hemisfair will showcase megastars such as Pitbull, T-Pain and Jelly Roll performing for free. The lineup also includes Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, who break the mold of traditional jock jams. Rateliff channels heartland, everyman experiences into a rock ’n’ roll sound that ranges from the hard charging “SOB” to the soulful “You Worry Me.” Check the NCAA website for the full lineup and schedule. Free, 6:45 p.m., Hemisfair Park, 801 E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd., ncaa.com/marchmadness/musicfest. — Danny Cervantes
Sunday, April 6
Earth, Stebmo
Long-running Seattle act Earth — the name references Black Sabbath’s original moniker — is bringing its seismic slab of instrumental heaviness to SA. While critics frequently refer to the band as “drone metal,” its sound encompasses doom, sludge and the best of everything in between. A true rock ’n’
roll survivor story, Earth has been active since 1989 with a revolving cast supporting mastermind guitarist Dylan Carlson. Stebmo, the moniker of Seattle-based trombonist and keyboardist Steve Moor, opens with intriguing lo-fi jazz explorations. Moor’s long list of collaborators includes Sunn O))), First Aid Kit, Neko Case and Sufjan Stevens. $20, 8 p.m., 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — Bill Baird
Wednesday, April 9
Lederhosen Junkies
Lederhosen Junkies’ absurd name sells the group’s appeal. These are four hell-raising party dudes dedicated to the much-maligned genre of polka. Say what you will about the squareness of the musical form, these guys bring the fun, the dance and the good vibes. Nerdy dance dudes, unite. Free, 6 p.m., Krause’s Biergarten, 148 S. Castell Ave., New Braunfels, krausescafe.com. — BB
Friday, April 11
The Sword, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Pink Fuzz
Now, this promises to be an exquisite evening of frayed bliss — a merging of punk, metal and the underground. Austin-based
headliner The Sword brings exquisite riffs and fantastic aesthetics that draw from great metal acts of yore. Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, another Austin outfit, specializes in its own flavor of face-melting riff-o-rama, while Denver’s Pink Fuzz lives up to its name by making a huge racket for a twopiece. For those about to rock, you know where to be. $25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB
Jackopierce
Jack O’Neill and Cary Pierce formed the folky, acoustic alt-rock group Jackopierce in 1989 while they were theater majors at Dallas’ Southern Methodist University. Before hitting a five-year hiatus in the late ’90s, the band had toured in support of headliners including Dave Matthews, Counting Crows and Alanis Morissette. After reuniting in 2002, Jackopierce are touring behind the 30th anniversary of breakthrough album Bringing on the Weather. $25-$65, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall. com. — DC
Sunday, April 13
Subhumans, Fea UK anarcho-punk group Subhumans started
Earth
in 1980, and despite breakups and reunions galore, continue to bring their blend of aggressive music and radical politics to fans around the globe. Given the idiotic nature of the current U.S. government, it’s a welcome message indeed. Subhumans’ most recent album, 2019’s Crisis Point, found them stronger than ever in both message and vigor. Similarly spirited San Antonio punk outfit Fea makes an ideal opener. $25, 8 p.m., Rah Rah Room, 6322 San Pedro Ave., instagram.com/therahrahroom. — BB
Monday, April 14
Youth Lagoon, Valley James Boise’s Trevor Powers performs his trippy neo-psychedelia under the stage name Youth Lagoon. He’s recorded five studio albums under the moniker along with a couple under his own name. Powers used the discovery of home movies in his parents’ basement to fuel his February LP Rarely Do I Dream . The album serves as a spiritual memoir of his childhood and shifts from dreamy rock songs to pulsing electronica, overhung with gothic themes. $22-$25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — DC
36. What happens when the first preservation doesn’t seal?
40. Arm bones
41. Paul of “Mad About You”
42. Severance
43. Psychologist Abraham known for his “hierarchy of needs”
44. Bee prefix
47. A.L. East squad, on scoreboards
48. 2025 Fox medical drama where the main character suffers a brain injury
49. “The Thursday Murder
Club” author Richard
51. Horror movie where the clown trades a balloon for a bouquet?
56. Informal summons
58. Think tank output
59. Pt. of MIT
60. Performance space
61. Bad sign
62. Gratuitous
63. LP’s other half
64. World’s longest river
65. Rain protector
Down
1. Plaza Hotel kid
2. “SNL” alum Alex
3. Site of an Ali-Frazier showdown
4. + end of a battery
5. “’Tis a pity”
6. Interlockable brand
7. Piece of info
8. Shocking tidbit, maybe
9. Admiral’s ships
10. One in a restaurant basket
11. Birds of a given region
12. Annual host of a notable gala
13. Before, in poems
21. Plains natives
22. Sun, in Spain
26. Punjabi princess
27. Part of, as a plot
30. CA red wine
31. News error follow-up
32. Biennial cricket match between England and Australia, with “the”
33. Hockey legend Jaromir
34. “The Acrobat of ___” (Al Jarreau epithet)
35. Korean carmaker bought
by GM
36. Mongolian tent
37. Miscellany
38. Drop on Facebook
39. “General” on menus
43. Miss Piggy, to herself
44. Chief deity of Egypt
45. Sentence breaker-downer
46. Arched foot part
48. Dorky person
50. “The Tortured Poets Department” artist
52. “That does add up”
53. Computer-to-TV cable
54. Sense
55. Olympic pool division
56. Chain with long receipts
57. “Kill Bill” tutor Pai ___
Answers on page 35.
LINERS
Quality Assurance R&D Manager wanted by Vizrt to work in San Antonio, Texas. Take responsibility and ownership for quality across several company software product portfolios. Craft comprehensive test scenarios aligned with application and system requirements, spearhead both internal and external beta testing initiatives, meticulously report and track software defects, and lead a talented team of 4 Software QA and/or Automation Engineers. Requires: Bachelor’s degree in computer science (or related field) and 2 years of experience in software quality assurance management using: test automation tools (examples include but are not limited to: Selenium, Appium, or TestComplete); bug tracking systems such as Jira to track and manage software defects, or 4 years of experience in software quality assurance management, which includes 2 years of experience using: test automation tools (examples include but are not limited to: Selenium, Appium, or TestComplete); bug tracking systems such as Jira to track and manage software defects. Interested candidates should Apply online at: https://apply.workable.com/vizrt/
Data Architect - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Applies data extraction, transformation & loading techniques in order to connect large data sets from a variety of sources. Req’d: Bach deg in CS + min 8yrs exp in data science or analytics + min 5yrs exp in developing solutions major public cloud (Azure, GCP AWS) + min 3yrs exp in Hadoop, Spark & Python. Telecommuting permitted. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. TY3028.
Senior Software Developer - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Design & develop software for enterprise services. Req’d: Bach deg in Tech, Engr or rel fld + min 5yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld OR Master’s deg in Tech, Engr or rel fld + min 3yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld. Req’d: Min 5yrs exp w/ Python programming; Linux; & Git / Gitlab for version control. Req’d: Min 4yrs exp w/ Jenkins & other continuous integration tools & Docker and/or Kubernetes. Req’d: Min 3yrs exp w/ designing & integrating RESTful APIs & web services; Amazon Web Services (AWS); configuration mgmy tools such as Ansible, Chef, or Salt Stack; DBs such as MySQL, Oracle, or MongoDB; Continuous Integration (CI) & Continuous Delivery (CD) methodologies; tools like CloudFormation, Terraform, or Packer; monitoring tools such as Nagios, Icinga, or Prometheus; & Vault or Consul. Telecommuting permitted. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. PS9428.
Data Architect III - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Applies data extraction, transformation & loading techniques in order to connect large data sets from a variety of sources
Req’d: Bach deg in CS, Info Sys or rel tech deg + min 5yrs exp in Data Architecture OR Master’s deg in CS, Info Sys or rel tech deg + min 3yrs exp in Data Architecture; Req’d: 1yr exp in Cloud Architecture. Telecommuting permitted. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. SO3902.
Senior Software Developer - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Design & develop software for enterprise services. Req’d: Bach deg in tech rel fld + min 5yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld OR Master’s deg in tech rel fld + min 3yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld. Req’d: Min 5yrs exp w/Oracle Billing & Revenue Management (BRM), C, C++, & Core Java.. Telecommuting permitted. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. QT3900.
International Motors, LLC is seeking a Supplier QA Engineer Sr in San Antonio, TX with the following requirements: Bachelor’s degree and 6 years of supplier quality experience including 1 year lead experience OR Master’s degree and 4 years of supplier quality experience including 1 year lead experience OR 8 years of supplier quality experience, including 1 year lead experience. Required Skills: Apply Design Engineering Standards and Requirements (AWS, SAE, ASME, ANSI, GD&T (ASME 14.5), Regulatory Requirements used in Commercial Vehicles (ITAR, FMVSS, REACH) to assess suppliers’ ability to meet manufacturing requirements related to new business selection, assess supplier compliance during the production part approval process and to perform validation related to corrective and preventative actions (4 yrs); Utilize IATF 16949 and AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) including CQI process assessments and standards to guide suppliers on expectations and drive improvement for suppliers to meet Supplier Quality Requirements (4 yrs); Use AIAG core tools: APQP, FMEA, PPAP, MSA, and SPC in assuring manufacturing process controls and part compliance to engineering requirements for electrical commodities in the manufacture of commercial trucks (4 yrs); Apply IATF 16949 and AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) best in class practices in proper Quality Management systems to guide and lead team to ensure objectives are met and roadblocks are removed (4 yrs); Establish metrics and strategies of the Supplier Quality team in pursuit of a zero-defect methodology (4 yrs). 30% domestic, 10% international travel required; must live within normal commuting distance of San Antonio, TX. Benefits: https://careers.international.com/#benefits. Salary Range: $120,000-130,000. Apply at https://careers.international.com/ Refer to Job #58068
International Motors, LLC is seeking a Project Engineer Sr. in San Antonio, TX with the following requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology or Computer Science and 8 years of experience in product design/development and/or computer science experience, including 1year leading others in engineer/design activities OR Master’s degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology or Computer Science and 6 years of experience in product design/ development and/or computer science experience, including 1 year leading others in engineer/ design activities OR Phd in Engineering, Engineering Technology or Computer Science and 3 years of experience in product design/development and/or computer science experience, including 1year leading others in engineer/design activities. Required Skills: Lead product and/or process change requests including bill of material changes, assembly and part layouts, ensuring timely completion of tasks without impedance to day-to-day production support responsibilities; Evaluate and approve substitutions, deviations, and sales order revision requests utilizing knowledge in mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing of commercial vehicle classes 6/7/8; Adhere to FMVSS regulations by NHTSA, and material and parts specifications ensuring minimal impact on build quality and production operation; Approve completed product/process changes before implementation prioritizing safety and quality; Assess and address build issues within manufacturing operations utilizing engineering and process knowledge and materials standards for construction of heavy-duty commercial vehicles to implement countermeasures, working together with quality, production and material departments; Lead the integration support for launching and integrating battery electric vehicles within a class 6/7/8 chassis vehicle. 8% domestic and 2% international travel required; must live within normal commuting distance of San Antonio, TX. Apply at https://careers.international.com/ Refer to Job #57985.
H-E-B seeks Staff System Developer in San Antonio, TX for manufacturing technology. E-Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, at Recruiting10@heb.com
BHS Physicians Network, Inc. is seeking a Cardiothoracic Surgeon in San Antonio, TX. Req: Med. Degree, or equiv., TX Med. Lic., Board Cert. in Surg. Fellowship in Advanced Aortic Surg. and Res. in Cardiothoracic Surg, and 3 yrs exp. Contact: Laura.hoffer@tenethealth.com
International Motors, LLC is seeking a Program Manager Tech in Elmendorf, TX with the following requirements: Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of technical project/program management experience including 1 year lead experience OR Master’s degree and 6 years of technical project/ program management experience including 1 year lead experience OR 10 years of technical project/program management experience including 1 year lead experience. Required Skills: Analyze automotive truck assembly product changes using APQP gated program management, manufacturing process, and lean enterprise system design; Analyze and specify process change, labor, tooling, equipment and test requirements using technical drawings, CAD, DFA, pFMEA, 5S’s and Kaizen; Analyze and provide interface requirements for BAAN MRP software manufacturing for end user applications using Value Stream Mapping, cross-functional business principles; Develop plans for continuous improvement and cost savings using Cause and Effect analysis, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen and 5S’s principles. 30% domestic, 70% international travel required; must live within normal commuting distance of Elmendorf, TX; up to 20% remote work allowed. Benefits: https://careers.international.com/#benefits. Salary range: $119,517-$120,000. Apply at https://careers.international.com/ Refer to Job # 58095.
Rest. Asst. Gen. Mgr. (Customer Service) sought by Palenque Management LLC in San Antonio, TX with at least six (6) months of experience in the job offered or in a customer-facing management role in the food and beverage industry. Email resume to asolis@palenquegroup.com and reference job code GC23055.02.
Senior Software Developer - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Develop & execute functional and performance testing for assigned projects. Req’d: Bach deg in Tech, Engr or rel fld + min 5yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld OR Master’s deg in Tech, Engr or rel fld + min 3yrs exp in software dev, engr, testing or rel fld. Req’d: Min 5yrs exp w/Oracle Procedural Language/ Structured Query Language PL/SQL, Oracle Apps R12. Req’d: Min 2yrs exp w/Oracle Business Intelligence Applications (OBIA) & Oracle Communications Data Model(OCDM) Reports, Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) jobs. Telecommuting permitted. Send resume to: careers@ rackspace.com, Ref. SW2887.
